Radio signal discriminating apparatus



l1g- 19, 1952 D. A. BELL 2,607,888

RADIO SIGNAL DISCRIMINATING APPARATUS Filed sept. 21, 1945 Tl Bl T l E EL F49.

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INVE/VTR .David LBe/ By ai JM Patented Aug. 19, v1952 l APPARATUS David Arthur Bell, London, England, assignor to A. C. Cossor Limited British company London, England, a

Application September 21, 1945, Serial No. 617,842 In Great Britain July 24, 1944 aerial is necessarily exposed to Vall the arriving" signal oscillations, andLf a selection from among these can only be made by provisions within the receiving system.

`'Ihe invention makes use of a certain phenomenon'that-has beenobserved in the behaviour of an amplitude-limiter when a plurality of frequencies is fed to its input. ,(The term frequency, where the sense requires, must yin this specicationbe Aunderstood as meaning, in accordance with a commonA ellipsis, an oscillation of a certain frequency which may or may notbe modulated inrespect of'its amplitude, frequency;

or phase. Thisv phenomenon is tthat'if the input to'the limiter consistsof twonot -very dissimilar frequencies togetherwith a third frequency which isf not of substantiallylgreater amplitude than the strongeroff said two, A then the output will contain imagesof the two with respect to the third, vthe amplitude eratioofthe images being veryA much exaggeratedover thef'amplitude ratio of the corresponding inputs.

In accordance with'this'invention therefore thev wanted and unwanted -frequencies are applied to an amplitude limiter ,together with a third frequency which has an amplitude not less than, and preferably not very much greater than, that of the wanted frequency, being stronger than the unwanted; while from the output of the limiter is selected the image frequency of the wanted frequency with respect to the third frequency. The means for selecting said image frequency will probably be no better able to discriminate against the vunwanted frequency image than it `would have been lable to do againstjithe" unwanted frequency itself; but the action'ofthe limiter will have been to. increase very greatl'ythe difference between thev two amplitudes.'

'I he imagefrequency selected in the output cirf cuit'of the limiter lis a thirdorder product having a frequency of 2Fo-Fw, where Fo is the third frequency (the frequency ofv thelocal oscillator) and Fw is the frequency of they-,wanted signal.

The following description relates to theaccompanying drawing in which;V ,8.

Fig.' 1 shows the circuit diagram' of an ampli'- tudei; limiter as used to obtainxthe experimental resultsvshown graphically in Fig.v 2; 7

2L Fig. 2 shows graphically the selective phenome- E v'f8-Claims. (ci. 25e-20) non which can be obtainedbyv the use of a circuit in Fig. 1; and n Fig. 3 shows a block diagram of `a radio receiver embodying the invention. A

The arrangement shown in Fig. l is that used experimentally for the purpose of obtaining the curve shown in Fig. 2.v The several oscillations are applied across terminals E'-'l"I,E"'-T2I and E-T3, and hence over individual resistaces RI, R2, R3, to a common resistance R4. kTheftotal voltage thatcan be developed across this ycomf mon resistance R4 is limited bymeans of the oppositely-arranged.diodes DI and I D'2Y shunting the common Aresistor 'in serieswith biassing batteries Bl and B2. The outputfrom thelimiter is fed tothe output terminals T4 T5 overa potentiometer P, which in addition to performing its normal volume-control function also has the advantage of reducingt'heshunting effect of the equipment connected to theV output terminals T4--T5,` and having a low input' resistance; t

For the purpose ofobtainingfthe curveshown in Fig. 2, the equipment?conn/ectednto-thel output terminals was a wayefanalysfer. *,To the inputr terminals TI, T2; TSLWerefiap'plied three voltages of different frequencies which may for convenience be designated a wanted frequency Fw,

an unwanted frequency Fu, and an infrage-form ing frequency 'Fo, the amplitude of Furbeing greater than that of Fu. Itwas then found: that the five most important components I in-the output from the limitervverev the threefinput f requencies, Fw, Fu and Fo,vtogether withthe image frequencies of Fw fand Fufwfitli respect to Fo, namely, (2I'o--Fw) and I'*(Y2F0-F l, In Fig. 2 the abscissa pertains to inputja t then: ordinate pertains to `output of the-'limiter'. g fAlong Vthe abscissa is shown'the relationship irr decibels bel tween the amplitudes ofv the image-'forming frequency Fo and that ofthe wanted frequencyFw; while on the ordinate there isn shown tli'e relationship in decibels between the amplitude ofthe wanted image vfrequency "(2Fo'-Fw) ,-'a'nd that, of the unwanted imagevfrequency;.(2Foe4Fu). It will be seen from-this curve thatzwhen the imageforming oscillation Fo has an ramplitude approxi mately that of the `wanted oscillation Fw; A the image @Ew-Fu) of the unwantedoscillationFu practicallyvanishes.;` -l j Y ,l

In Fig. 3 is shown by means .of ,a block-diagram a superheterodyne radioy receiu'erf embodying ythe invention. Y Y v Inthis receiverthe wanted and unwanted f requency-modulated .signals picked up` by ,thefaerial are, in conventional manner, amplified at It. F., and heterodyned with the outputof'ta local Yos-V @mater L. o. l inthe frequencyehangerr.1c.; the difference beat-frequency oscillations from the output of the frequency-chang'ervare selected and amplied in a first intermediate frequency amplifier I.` F. I. 'Iheoutput from the .intermediate frequencyA amplifier I. F. I -is passed through a first limiter LI, so that, in accordance with accises the known functioning of a limiter, if the ratio of the Wanted intermediate frequency amplitude tol f thev unwanted intermediate frequency amplitude is A1B on the input side of the limiter Li, tirateV ratio will appear as A2:B2 on the outputside. A second function of the limiter Ll is to keep the signal at a fairly constant level, so avoiding the necessity of having the amplitude of L.A O 2 vari-r` able over a wide range. The oscilations are no wmixed with the output of a second local oscillator L. O. 2 and the resultant is applied directly. tora` y second limiter L2. The second local oscilator L. Q. 2 has a frequency fairly near to, but not Within, the pass-band of the iirs'tintermediate frequency amplifier I. F; I.` The output of the second limiter L2 is applied to aY second intermediatefrequency amplifier II. F. 2, having a pass-bandV which is theimage of that of I. F. i

withrespectto the frequency of the lsecond local oscillator 1.1.10., 2.v Y

The amplitude ofl the vsecond local oscillation is so adjusted Ithat theA imageof the unwanted signal from; the output of the `first I. F. ar'npli'ner has negligible amplitude'i'n the output cf the second limitervLZ, thatisjthe image frequency to be renderednegligible in the output of the second limiter is the third vorder frequenfcy of ZFofFu. The amplitude, necessary Yfor this purpose Awill vary with those of the wanted and unwanted output signals of the first l.F.Aam'pliier. These signal amplitudes Ywillpreferably be controlled by an automaticgain control system, of which the branch A,G.VC. l .operates.riegativelih4 e. to

decrease thefgainas the signal strength increases.

Itis preferred that theamplitude of the seco-nd 2. A` receiver for a signal;cscillation of a frquency Fw comprising,incpmbination, an amplitude limiter, a local oscillator of a frequency Fo, means for supplying oscillations from the local oscillator and said signal oscillation to said amplitude limiter,A and an output circuit for said amplitude limiter tuned to select oscillations of a frequency ZroFw, and means for making the amplitude yof theY oscillations supplied from said local oscillatdrto.' said limiter approximately equal to the amplitude of said signal oscillation. 3..'A receiver according to claim 2 in which saidv amplitude limiter comprises a pair of oppositely-arranged diodes.

4. A receiver according to claim 3 in which said diodes are arranged ln; shuntA across -a -resistance across tlieweyev esci llatiofis'` are developed as vltasesf .'f 'l 5. AAv receiver accordrclaim 2 -andincl'dinga second ai'nplit'udeY` miter connectedahad @fr seid meriti'onsdliifr ft2 .meisten-the amplitude of the signa VAapplied to said first limiter withinlpredeterm ned; limits.

6. A receiver according-to claim -'and .includl ins ,a signal amplifier; pretdfie ,Seid .-amliude limiter. and anauwheti sein-@M2611 Syse 01- erating'knegatlvelyzupen a'd signal amplifier to maintain Y the signa-l a V. c miie-esplica@ Seid limiter within ,predeterminedA limits.

7. A receiver according to clairn-Gz-whereinsaid means for -malging the amplitude-ofsaidnloscillalocal ,oscillation "alsob'ev controlledby the same automatic gain Ycontrol system, the; branch A. G. C. Zoper'ating positively, i. e. to increase the strengthof the local'oscillator L. as the signal strength increases.Y v'lliev automaticL gain controlli..Y G. C. l ism'an ialt'ernative to the limiter LI in respect ofy thesecond 'function of the Vlimiter mentioned above.

The image of the wanted signal will have vari-- able amplitudefintljie output ci'cuitjof the'limiter if there is Vvariati-ouin amplitudeof either input to first limiter.` Afteramplification in the second I. F. amplifier, therefore, it ispassed-through u a third limiter L3 before application to afrequency-discriminator and demodulator D.

The limiter need not be restricted to the arrangement shown in Fig. l, but may be Vof any other know'ntype; forexample, a; type of limiter commonly "used in frequency-modulation receivers is the"overloa ded pentode, consisting of a pentode amplifying valve operated under suitable conditions of electrode'potentials and anode load impedances. 'I y Iciaim: f f

1. A circuit arrangement for discrimin tingV between two signal oscilations Fw and 'Fu-of neighlcouringr frequencies, FwV having a Vlarger amplitude than Fu, said circuit comprisingY an amplithe output of said limiter oscillations of a fre,-

queny of ZEG-Fw.

tions from Said ylocal Oscillaterarproxreaielr equal to the amplitude of 4v'said signaloscillation comprise anv u autornaticV ju gain control. ,u for /controlling the emplitusieofr Seid oscillations .from said local oscillator and- Leo n'nccted to` re'sppnd positively to the amplitude of, said signal oscillation.A l

f S-A @Heilsarmee 2 ...111.2211 esaminati-Hebe vweer; two sienalzoilletions 'aridFu ofrecienbornsfrequeneiesiw heviesalarser amplitude: than ,Fu-.Seid ,circuit .emprisag amplitude limiter, means formfeeding said signaloscillation-s, to said limiter,A a generator ofM-a third oscillation Formeans for maknathe amplitude-Qi; Saidithird oscillation approximateltgthat of said signal oscillation Fw to within-abeti decibel, means. for feeding said third'osciilatento saifllimiter, and means. forseleetnei'frmthe cntputrof. said limiter oscillations Foc-Ew.

of regagner -2 I aariinENn-s errar); The following -refe'r'n"cles are yoi record inl the file of this patenti' Q L Number.

2,504,600 .i 1,813,9281: u I July-14,1 '1- 2,085,791 Cariso .`July; 6,519.81Y 2,066,602r oarumers July 13,,1198iy 2,087,068 lviccut'cnien` Jury 18,v '19137 2,088,482 Pieters'cmg-.` July, 2?, i937 .Y 2.094,625 Thompson oct. '15I` 1922` 2,116,501 Armstrqhg May '10, 19'88 2,144,935V van Egberts 1 Janet, i939 2,166,985 Koch 1." '.11115125, `1939 2,212,888 Bown Aug. 20, .1940 2,214,929 Koschmwce "sept 1v, 194'o" 2,290,558 traantjes f "Y'Jiy'21gi`sa42 2,862,898 Gilman: Nov. 14,1194; 2,368,288 Be11- nNov. 'a1-,11944- 2,368,200 wiumette -oct.;80, 1845 

